As part of Wolfeboro Parks and Recreation’s annual Winter Carnival, Lakes Region Curling Association will hold a free learn-to-curl session for members of the public on Tuesday, Feb. 26, at Pop Whalen Ice Arena, Route 109A, in Wolfeboro. Aimed at people 14 years of age and older, the event will begin at 2 p.m., with registration starting at 1:45.

Curlers should bring a pair of athletic shoes with clean soles that they can put on at the arena. All other equipment is provided.

For men and women of all ages and fitness levels, curling is a sport that combines skill, teamwork, and strategy. LRCA matches put a premium on friendly competition, sportsmanship, and fun. LRCA members will be on hand during the learn-to-curl session to explain the rules of the sport and to provide instruction in basic skills such as stone delivery and sweeping.

Now an Olympic sport with a growing following in the US, curling began on the frozen marshes of Scotland during the Middle Ages. It was brought to North America during the 18th century and is played throughout Canada and the Upper Midwest.

The Wolf Pack have topped off the Lakes Region Curling Association’s most successful season yet with a flourish as they took the Fall 2018 league championship with an unblemished 8-0 record. The title was the second for the team over the course of the association’s three-and-a-half-year history. Members are Eileen Neal, Shirley Alessandroni, Sue Bennett, Denise Cogswell, and Joan MaGrauth.

The quintet emerged from an 11-team field and a roster of 55 players, the largest to date for the curling association. The large turnout required the LRCA to purchase a fifth set of curling stones and paint a fifth sheet on Pop Whalen ice.

With the Fall 2018 curling season largely in the rearview mirror, the Lakes Region Curling Association is now registering players for the its 2019 Winter League. The winter league brings weekly curling matches to Pop Whalen Ice Arena in Wolfeboro from January to March (except Super Bowl Sunday).

Matches take place from 5:15 to 7:15 pm on Sunday evenings.

For men and women of all ages and fitness levels, curling is a sport that combines skill, teamwork, and strategy. LRCA matches put a premium on friendly competition, sportsmanship, and fun. Participants can join individually, as couples, or as entire teams.

There’s no equipment to buy, and new members get an introduction to the basics of the game at a learn-to-curl session before the season begins.

Registration for the Winter season begins now. New curlers and the general public will have an opportunity to learn the basics of curling at a learn-to-curl session scheduled for Sunday, January 6, at 5:15 p.m. at Pop Whalen arena.

Thanks to everyone, new and seasoned, for a great opening night. Fun was had by all. New this year, we rolled out a section in the website to track standings and schedule. It’s here: Fall 2018 Schedule and Standings.

Next week, we look forward to seeing the Curling Curlers make their season debut. On bye: JCVD, Wolf Pack, and the Stone Agers.

Mike Turner, Carl Crosley and Bill Connors attach handles to a newly arrived set of stones.

LRCA organizers have been busy in the past few months preparing for the upcoming Fall 2018 league. With 11 teams and 55 curlers, the league has required some additions to LRCA equipment and facilities.

The first change that returning curlers will notice is the addition of a fifth sheet in the middle of the arena ice. In previous years, this space was empty.

To avoid any difficulty with getting off the three middle sheets when an opposing team member is throwing, the middle sheet is separated from its neighbor on either side by an 18-inch gap, allowing sweepers to step out of the way until they need to return to the match.

To allow use of that fifth sheet, the LRCA has purchased another set of 16 stones. Shipped from North Dakota, they arrived on September 28 and are now housed in a new cabinet built against the arena boards to keep them cold and ready for use. (Warm stones would literally melt into the ice.)

At the same time, new brooms and hacks had to be ordered, and, to keep up with the wearing effects of game play, five new brooms were ordered, and 16 others have received new brush heads.

Painting of the curling sheets, hockey markings, and the Back Bay logo takes place in the first week of October.

LRCA curlers took their skills and experience to Mount Washington Valley Curling Club’s bonspiel on September 15, coming away with the championship of the Mount Monroe division of the event. Shown wearing their winners’ medals are, from left, Brian Gately, Andrea Dudley, Rich Masse, and Bill Connors. The quartet defeated an experienced Plymouth Rocks team from Plymouth State University, in part by scoring seven points in the third end of the match.

Lakes Region Curling will sport 11 teams as it heads into its fourth year with the Fall 2018 season. The number, which represents 54 registered curlers, is the largest since the organization began playing in 2015.

With so many teams vying for playing time, LRCA organizers have arranged for the creation of a fifth sheet on the Pop Whalen Arena ice. The increase in demand also necessitate the purchase of another set of curling stones — 16 at a price of $335 each — as well as additional brooms, hacks, and other equipment used in the setup and play of curling matches.

Rich Masse, president of the LRCA, said “We consider these purchases an investment in the future of curling in the Lakes Region. We’re confident that interest in curling is strong and growing, and we intend to serve it.”

The increase in membership is consistent with the experience of curling clubs around the country, a likely outcome of the intense interest generated by the 2018 Winter Olympics in February of this year.

The LRCA saw 12 new members sign on, necessitating the creation of two new teams. Of the new curlers, ten have never played the sport. Those players will take to the ice for the first time on Oct. 14 with a mandatory learn-to-curl session at Pop Whalen.

The Lakes Region Curling Association holds its Annual Meeting for members on Wednesday, Aug. 22, at 7 p.m. in the meeting room of the Wolfeboro Public Library.

The brief session is an opportunity for members to learn about the organization’s finances, to ask questions and make comments about LRCA policies, and to elect a slate of directors for the coming year.